The Inclusive Teaching Program: A seven-module online course for faculty of higher education

Abstract

The Center for Effective Teaching and Learning at Cal State LA (CETL) was tasked to create a certificate program to address inclusive teaching that we could offer to faculty online at scale. The Inclusive Teaching Program recognizes college faculty as independent experts and self-directed learners who desire space and community to think about their roles as the single greatest influencers of student success. We ground our program design in Wlodkowski and Ginsberg’s (2017) framework of adult motivation to learn, while being cognizant that highly professional people (who include faculty) are among the most resistant to change (Argyris, 1991). The program takes an expansive view of, and broadly frames, the concept of inclusivity (Holladay et al., 2003; Rios & Wynn, 2016). The resulting seven-module course deeply engages instructors in the following areas: teaching identity, working with our diverse and unique population of students, leading difficult discussions, acknowledging implicit bias, and practicing faculty care and self-care. We share a novel infrastructure for creating educational development that tackles difficult topics while helping faculty make meaningful changes to their teaching.